Butterfly Wings
by Cynthia of the Wallflowers
Summary: And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time. - Libba Bray, The Sweet Far Thing (An unexpected act of kindness changes Naruto's life, and the world takes a step sideways.)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or anything in it.

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 **Summary:** And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time. - Libba Bray, The Sweet Far Thing. (An unexpected act of kindness changes Naruto's life, and the world takes a step sideways.)

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 **General Warnings:** UA (Universe Alteration) (it's a great term and we should use it), GEN, ninja-life violence, abuse, Kid!fic (cuz they're all kids)

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 **Author's Notes:** Today is the day I first got into fanfiction, or about as near as I can estimate. So, this fic is being published to celebrate! That being said, this fic will not be regularly updated. In fact, it will not be updated at all on ffnet until ffnet fixes it's notification system. If it hasn't been fixed by the end of the month, I'll just go ahead and update on AO3 if I've got the next chapter done.

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 **Chapter 1**

It is only a little change.

Naruto is running again. It's nothing new.

What is is that he's running and he barrels headfirst into another tiny body. They both topple over, of course, and the other's squeak of surprise combined Naruto's flailing would have been comical had it been any other situation. But it isn't any other situation. Naruto scrambles up, apologizing, and cuts himself off just as abruptly, eyes wide, as he hears the first sign of his pursuers getting closer.

In another world, Naruto would have rushed off again, not giving the girl another thought. In another world, he would have been caught, too delayed by his crash to keep his pursuers a distance away. In another world, he would have been saved by ANBU and put back in his apartment. In another world, he would forget the entire incident and in another world, nothing would change.

But in this world, the girl ― his classmate, Hyuuga Hinata ― acts before he does. She takes one look at his face, hears the murderous slurs and angry voices of the mob, and, in an uncharacteristic flash of bravery, shoves him down the alley, behind a trash can and out of sight. Frozen in surprise, Naruto hears a bit of scuffling before many footsteps approach and-

"Where is he?" Hostile. Drunk.

"Hey- Are you alright?" Surprise. Concern.

"Are you hurt, little girl?" Fake. Saccharine.

"T-there was a- a boy w-with yellow h-hair," Hinata sniffles, "and he k-knocked me over!"

Angry hisses. Displeased murmurs.

"Did you see which way he went?" Naruto tenses, and he's just about to make a break for it until-

"H-he ran th-that way."

There's the sound of feet and they're heading _away from him_. Naruto can't quite stop his mouth from falling open in shock.

(For such a meek little girl, Hyuuga Hinata is a surprisingly good actress. Stutter and all.)

Naruto is just about to come out to thank her but then there's a shout.

"Hinata-sama!" Hinata turns, and there's a white-eyed man rushing down the street.

"K-Ko!"

"Hinata-sama! What were you thinking, sneaking out like that?! You could have been kidnapped!" Hinata bows her head and stutters out a meek apology and the man begins dragging her home, scolding her all the while. Naruto doesn't even have a chance to thank her.

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Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or anything in it.

* * *

 **General Warnings:** UA (Universe Alteration), GEN (as in, if NaruHina ever happens, it will be in the far, far, _far_ future), ninja-life violence, abuse, Kid!fic (cuz they're all kids)

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 **Author's Notes:** This is literally all I have written for this fic. So, there may or may not be future updates, depending on my muse.

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 **Chapter 2**

Hinata had expected Naruto to forget about it. She knew he wasn't the smartest of boys, and she admired him in spite of it.

Which is why it came as an immense shock to her when, the very next day at the Academy, there was a loud bang of a chair and then an enthusiastic "OHAYO HINATA!" as she was sitting quietly in her usual place at the back of the classroom.

Hinata reacted as she always did to shocks: she squeaked in fright and fell off her chair. Blinking in bewildered trepidation, she peered up and eeped again in mortification at the concerned face of Naruto, her long time crush, sitting beside her chair, staring down at her in concern. She clambered up, face red, inwardly praying that she wouldn't faint.

"O-ohayo, N-Naruto-kun," she stammered. There was a pause as she tried to work up the courage to say something more ― specifically, to ask why he had moved from the other side of the classroom just to greet her.

"I didn't manage to thank you yesterday!" Naruto said, his voice dropping down to a more moderate level. He rubbed the back of his head and gave her a brilliant smile. "So thanks for saving me! No one's ever done something like that for me before!"

Several thoughts passed through her head.

The first was ' _saving him?'_ Hinata swayed. She couldn't help it ― _Naruto_ was _thanking_ her and telling her _she_ had _saved_ him. She wondered if it was possible to die from blushing.

And then his other words registered.

"What do you mean, before?" Hinata blurted, before catching herself and backtracking a little. Only a little though. "I- I mean, has this happened b-before?"

"Eh?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah, but the masked people usually stop it before it gets too bad."

"M-masked people?" Hinata said slowly, mind racing. "You mean...A-ANBU?" Naruto grinned, arms windmilling wildly.

"Yeah! They're really fast! They just go swoosh!" Naruto threw his hands up to emphasize. "And then the people chasing me are gone and I'm on the roof or at home!"

Hinata was quiet as she listened to him prattle on. Something was odd about all of this. Because...because while Hinata liked him, she wasn't blind to his faults or his status either. She was the Hyuga heir ― for now at least; the crushing disappointment in her father's eyes every time he left a practice session made it more than clear that she was too inadequate to stay as such ― and she knew, at least, the bare basics of Politics. Someone like Naruto ― an Academy student, an orphan with no known family ― should _not_ be important enough to have ANBU near him at all times, ready to swoop in. Something...something about this whole situation wasn't right.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata timidly interrupted, petrified at her own daring. "W-why were the villagers ch-chasing you?" Naruto's smile flew off his face. Hinata inwardly slapped herself. Why had she asked that? In such an insensitive way? Now Naruto was upset! She was a horrible person. Maybe Father was right to be constantly disappointed in her ― she could never do anything right, couldn't even ask a simple question without saying something wrong! Hinata wished she could sink through the floor in shame.

"-ellooo, Hinata?" Hinata flinched as Naruto poked her in the arm, head snapping up to meet Naruto's eyes for a brief second before she realized what she had done and jerked her head back down, eyes wide. Her shoulders hunched around her burning ears as she realized what must have happened. He must have been talking to her, and she had- she had ignored him!

"I'm sorry!" She whispered. Her face felt so hot that she was surprised she hadn't spontaneously combusted yet.

"It's fine Hinata!" Naruto said cheerfully. "Ne, ne, can I call you Hinata-chan?" He turned the full force of his beaming smile on her and that was the last straw. .

"AH! HINATA!" Naruto yelped as, with one last squeak, Hinata toppled from her chair in a dead faint.

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Please review!


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